Phoebe Waller-Bridge on getting to punch Indiana Jones in Dial of Destiny: 'It was glorious'

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny character, Helena, gets to kick a lot of ass... including the one belonging to Indiana Jones.

In a very shocking — albeit hilarious — moment in the upcoming film (in theaters Friday), Helena punches her godfather, Indy (Harrison Ford), so hard in the face that she knocks him out, a moment which Waller-Bridge calls "glorious."

"It's such a brilliant cut, and it's such an excellently scripted moment. And particularly because there's so much fighting and left hooks and all that stuff all the way through the film, when she's just fighting the bad guys," Waller-Bridge tells EW. "But to have to level a punch to the hero of the film... It was glorious, because it was so funny."

The British star laughs when EW tells her that at both screenings we've attended, audiences loudly cheered at that moment. This makes Waller-Bridge laugh, but she hopes viewers understand her character's decision in the moment. "Underneath, it really had heart and emotion. And that's really a testament to Jim [Mangold, director] and the Butterworths [Jez and John-Henry] for writing a moment like that. I hope the audience understands why she does it."

In the film — which also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, and more — Helena and Indy are reunited in a race against time to get the mythical Dial of Destiny, which can reportedly change the course of history, before a nefarious Nazi, Voller (Mikkelsen).

It's the fifth film in the beloved franchise about the daredevil archaeologist, and like all of its predecessors, it features wild action sequences, which means Waller-Bridge got to do a lot more than just punch the film's hero.

"I managed to do quite a lot of the landing and jumping off bits, but none of the actual real, proper dangerous stunts. But I got to drive a tuk-tuk!" she says excitedly, before adding, "I did crash it... which wasn't meant to happen."

Waller-Bridge continues, "I got to jump out of a plane. And I got to jump into water, and roll out from under things, and jump over things. So there was a lot to do, and I was completely covered in bruises. Each one was a mark of honor for the day."

For more on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Waller-Bridge's experience working with Ford — who affectionately referred to her as a "s---head" on set — read EW's cover story.

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